It's official... Nitro has reunited! Joining founding members - legendary guitar virtuoso Michael Angelo Batio and glass-shattering vocalist Jim Gillette - is Lamb Of God drummer Chris Adler. Gillette recently spoke with Metal Rules about putting Nitro back together and working with Adler. An excerpt from the interview is available below.

Metal Rules: What type of vibe does the new CD have?

Jim Gillette: "It’s very, very heavy. I don’t think you can get any heavier. It’s funny the first run with Nitro we started off super heavy. I don’t want to blame anyone as we had the ultimate decision, but it got shaped and molded by guys in suits that had no clue. All they wanted us to do was to sing higher and play faster. It spun out of control. If the goal was to be the fastest and the highest; we achieved our goal. We just had the wrong goal [laughing]. Our goal should have been to write some kick ass heavy metal. You have to bend a little otherwise the checks stop coming. This time we didn’t have any men in suits telling us what to do. We are doing what we always envisioned what Nitro should be."

Metal Rules: Back in the day you guys looked like pretty boys with the hair and makeup but you weren’t anything like that; you were bad ass. The image didn’t match the sound of the band.

Jim Gillette: "That’s what I’m talking about. We were an LA band and everything coming out of LA looked like Poison. The label wanted us to fit that mold. We went along with them. When people would see us live, they couldn’t believe it as we were in jeans and t-shirts. No make-up or high hair. We would just rock the shit out of them. That’s how we envisioned it from the beginning.  That’s why we are so excited this time around. We can do what’s in our hearts. We had all this talent and we didn’t get it right until now. If we don’t get it right this time we’ll have nobody to blame (laughing)."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Adler recently commented on joining Nitro: ”I’m not sure who keeps giving my phone number to the most talented musicians on the planet but, I couldn't be more thrilled! I used to wonder what a metal band would sound like with all the cheat codes unlocked and well, I don't wonder about that anymore.  I'm blown away by the modern sound and groove in the material.  The chaos has been harnessed and it's incredibly heavy."

Batio states: "I can't wait to get onstage with these guys! Inspirational is an understatement."

Added Gillette: ”I’m honored to be surrounded by such insanely talented musicians. I mean, Michael and Chris are the best of the best. So yeah, it's very exciting, humbling and even a little intimidating. To be honest, I'm less intimidated when I get in the ring with a 300-pound monster that wants to tear my head off!"

Nitro is currently writing and is scheduled to start recording next month with Grammy-winning producer, Josh Wilbur (Lamb Of God, Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, Megadeth, Hatebreed and many more).  An anticipated release is spring of 2017, with a world tour to follow.

(Photo - Stephen Jensen)